Mastery
Aditya Mittal
Mastery
• What• Why• How
What is Mastery?
• Knowing an aspect of reality in intricate detail• Developing an intuitive feel for reality• Combine instinctive and rational thought into
intuition• Extraordinary creative ability
What is Mastery?• Ideas come out of thin air• Ideas come when you are not even
thinking about problem• You can work faster and achieve more
Conscious vs Sub-conscious
Mastery: Analogy
• Cricket• Car Driving
Learning LevelsConscious Sub-conscious
Hand/Eye Coordination NA
Basic Shots Hand/Eye Coordination
Anticipating Bowler Shots, Hand/Eye Coordination
Game Strategy/Politics Anticipating, Shots, Coordination
Learning LevelsConscious Sub-conscious
Hand/Eye Coordination NA
Basic Maneuvering (turns, gear change) Hand/Eye Coordination
Anticipating moves by other drivers, Navigating
Maneuvering, Hand/Eye Coordination
NA !! Navigating, Anticipating, Maneuvering, Coordination
Learning LevelsConscious Sub-conscious
Hand/Eye Coordination NA
Basic Maneuvering (turns, gear change) Hand/Eye Coordination
Anticipating moves by other drivers, Navigating
Maneuvering, Hand/Eye Coordination
NA !! Navigating, Anticipating, Maneuvering, Coordination
Stagnation!
Learning LevelsConscious Sub-conscious
Typing, Hand/Eye Coordination NA
Grammar Typing
Ideas Grammar, Typing
Story Ideas, Grammar, Typing
Why Mastery?• Mastery is Happiness• Mastery is Power
• Ability to influence• Ability to achieve• Ability to change things• Not limited by conscious thought
Power
• Masters are:– Creative– Natural leaders
Is Mastery Innate?
• No!• Life Interests are Innate!
How Mastery?
• Find Inner Calling• Apprenticeship– Find a Mentor– Creative-Active– Develop Intuition (Instinctive + Rational)
• Mastery
Finding Inner Calling
• Emotional Choice• Illogical
• First: Re-connect with inclinations• Second: Redirect career path• Third: Expand skills, gain mastery and
independence
ExamplesInclination Calling Vocation
Singing/Poetry/Dancing Communication/Expression
Theatre/Public Relations
Art/Painting Detail Design
Tinkering Building Engineering
Teaching Educate, Inspire & motivate
Trainer, Coach, Mentor
Talking Influence Lawyer, Salesman, Politician
Sports Competition, Strategy
!!
Following Inner Calling
• Learn quickly and more deeply• Claim your independence
• Larger purpose of life!
Apprenticeship
• Exercise your inner calling• 5-10 years• Goal is Transformation of mind and
character– Not money, position or title
Apprenticeship
ImpatientScattered
DisciplinedFocused
Apprenticeship
• Choose places of work and position that offers greatest possibilities of learning– Not bookish theory, practical knowledge!
• Do not chose an apprenticeship that is easy and comfortable
Apprenticeship Phases
• Deep Observation (Passive)• Skills Acquisition (Practice)• Experimentation (Active)
Deep Observation
• Observe & Understand: Rules & Procedures• No task is menial
• Like a hunter in a new jungle – Gather every detail of the forest and the ecosystem
Skill Acquisition
• Mirror Neurons: watch and imitate• Practice and Repeat!• Cycle of accelerated returns– Ability to practice for longer hours
• Aim: – Hardwiring of skills– Become one with the machine
Skill Acquisition
• Focus on one skill at a time• Practice is boring: Do not get tired!• Once actions become automatic – Collect
feedback and Analyze!– Weaknesses– Be self-critical
• Aim higher, Improve Qualitatively!
Transformation
• Intense Practice Transforms– Hard work– Painful to mind and body– Elements become automatic and easier– Mind totally absorbed in practice– Blocks everything out– Become one with the tool– Achieve Tacit Knowledge!
– Revert to a feeling of inferiority
Transformation
• Develop Emotionally• Redefined sense of pleasure• Develop patience• Develop confidence in yourself• Bored? Need new challenge, not distraction• 10,000 hours – 7-10 years of practice
Experimentation
• Take on more responsibility• Initiative• Doing work that exposes you to criticism and
failure
• Test your character, move past fears, develop sense of detachment with work
Leonardo da Vinci
• Go above and beyond
Apprenticeship
• Given side angle
“The layers of paint he applied were exceptionally thin, this brush strokes invisible. He had gradually added more layers, each ever so slightly darker than the last. Experimenting with different pigments, he had taught himself how to capture the delicate contours of human flesh”
Find a Mentor
• Some people know more than you– Time and experience
• Mentors: streamline but no short-cut• Provide feedback• Make practice more efficient
Creative Activity
• Combine– High level of knowledge about a field or subject– Openness and flexibility to use this knowledge in
new and original ways
– Example: the reverse sweep!
Creating Conditions for a Breakthrough/Insight
• Seek out what is unfamiliar• Don’t be intimidated by mystery/uncertainty• Allow for serendipity
– Widen your search– Relax (play!)
• Drill down: Cycle between speculation and observation• Shift perspective (eg, what did not happen)• Think in primitive ways (visually, not linguistically)• Holistic View – add dimentions• Internalize all forms of knowledge
Breakthrough
• Begin with an intuition• Broad search followed by narrowing possibilities• Heighted Focus• Never Satisfied!• Process becomes more conscious and less intuitive, and
so dead and stale• Work even harder!• Blocked: Creates inner tension and frustration• Giveup? No!• Relax, do something else: solution comes to Master
Emotional Pitfalls
• Complacency – you know very little• Conservatism – creativity rather than comfort• Dependency – high internal standards• Impatience – “stubborn rigor”, pleasure in
pain• Grandiosity – Remember luck, training, forget
ego• Inflexibility – Adapt. Paradox!
Magical Powers
• Can anticipate and predict correctly – Rommel• Intuitive feel of the whole – Einstein• Can take advantage of interconnectedness of
things – Gandhi
Faraday
• Born in poor family• Book-binder• Read books• Exchanged paid book-binding job for un-paid lab-
assistantship with Davy• Worked as Davy’s assistant for 10+ years• Learned on the job under Davy• Contributed to electromagnetism and
electrochemistry
Finding Calling
• Return to origins• Occupy a niche• Rebel against “false paths”• Adapt